Washington, DC — March 4, 2011Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has received a Department of Homeland Security report detailing the agency’s investigation of an illegal alien (Carlos Martinelly-Montano) who is charged with killing a Virginia nun in a drunk driving accident in August 2010. Homeland Security promised a federal court it would release the report earlier this year, but then later claimed the document was in “draft” form and therefore would not be released. Judicial Watch received the edited “final” report on March 3, 2011. Confusingly, the final reported is dated November 24, 2010.The Homeland Security report details policies and actions of the Obama administration and local governments that allowed Montano, an illegal alien who committed a series of crimes to remain on the streets despite being subject to deportation. The following is a detailed chronology of events as described in the report, obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed on December 2, 2010 (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Case No. 10-2054)):

“On December 7, 2007, Montano was convicted for driving under the influence (DUI) in Prince William County, Virginia and was sentenced to serve 30 days of incarceration. The judge in Prince William County, however, suspended all 30 days of the jail sentence with the result that Montano was not jailed for his offense. Local authorities did not seek to determine Montano’s immigration status nor did they contact ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).”“Almost one year later, on October 4, 2008, Montano was booked into jail in Prince William County and charged with another misdemeanor DUI. At the time of this arrest, the local authorities determined that Montano was an illegal alien. Thus, ICE lodged an immigration detainer against him. As a result of the immigration detainer, immigration officers took him into custody. On October 7, 2008, Prince William County officials released him from custody.”Rather than detaining Montano, “ICE agents determined that Montano was a candidate for the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program,” which monitored his whereabouts using GPS technology. He was therefore released.While awaiting his deportation hearing, “Montano was charged on March 5, 2009, in Fairfax County, Virginia, with misdemeanor failure to appear related to driving without a license. Local officials dismissed this charge against Montano on May 5, 2009. County officials did not contact ICE. On April 27, 2010, a Manassas Park police officer cited Montano for misdemeanor reckless driving. There is no record indicating that Montano was booked or fingerprinted or that Manassas Park officials contacted ICE. On June 1, 2010, Montano was convicted for reckless driving and fined $500. Again, ICE was not contacted following the citation or conviction.”“On April 27, 2009, as a result of the October 2008 DUI arrest, the Circuit Court of Prince William County convicted Montano and sentenced him to serve 12 months and 3 days in jail. However, the judge in Prince William County suspended 11 months and 13 days of Montano’s sentence. As a result of the judge’s decision, Montano served less than two weeks in Prince William County for his second DUI conviction.”“On May 7, 2009, after Montano served the portion of his sentence that had not been suspended, ICE took him into custody. Based on Montano’s compliance during his prior participation in the ATD program, ICE officers released Montano on the prior order of supervision (dating back to 2008) with the condition that he report to ICE on a regular basis.”

Decisions by the Executive Office for Immigration Review caused delays in the removal proceedings. Moreover, Montano’s immigration attorney successfully convinced an immigration judge to delay Montano’s removal hearing on two occasions. The court ultimately scheduled Montano’s hearing for August 19, 2010. However, on August 1, 2010, while under the influence of alcohol, Montano was charged with crashing his car into another vehicle, killing one nun and critically injuring two others.With respect to the decision to release Montano, rather than detaining him, the report concludes: “In 2008, when the decision was made to release Montano, fewer beds were available in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.” The report also points to government policies that allowed immigration officials “broad discretion” about how to use detention resources. The Obama administration used this discretion to release Montano in 2009 after he served jail time for his 2008 drunken driving arrest.In July 2010, the Obama administration announced it would not take legal action against “sanctuary cities” that prevent local law enforcement entities from freely communicating with federal immigration officials. In contrast, the Obama Justice Department also filed a lawsuit to stop the State of Arizona from enforcing SB 1070, a get-tough illegal immigration law that mandates that local law enforcement officers cooperate with federal immigration officials. The Obama administration ordered federal immigration agents to focus deportation efforts only on illegal aliens suspected of terrorist activity and those convicted of “violent” crimes.“If this is the cleaned-up version of the Homeland Security report, I can’t imagine what bombshells were included in the original version. Even in its edited form, however, this report is an embarrassment to the Obama administration and a clear indictment of Obama’s lawless approach to illegal immigration. An innocent person lost her life because local police officers and immigration officials couldn’t be bothered to enforce and obey the law. This tragedy is a direct result of the Obama administration’s decision to undermine the enforcement of federal immigration laws,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

DHS Documents

• DHS response letter - March 3, 2011
• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Carlos Martinelly Montano Inquiry November 24, 2010 - March 3, 2011

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that the Obama administration broke a promise made to a federal court to release an internal memo detailing its investigation of an illegal alien who killed a Virginia nun in a drunk driving accident in August 2010. Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit to obtain the report. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) then told a federal court that the report would be released by January 18, 2011. However, the Obama administration now claims that the report is still in “draft” form and is therefore exempt from FOIA.

On January 6, 2011, Judicial Watch received the following message in an email from the Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) assigned to Judicial Watch’s FOIA lawsuit: “I have discussed this matter with the agency and have been advised that the requested report/memorandum has been processed and will be disclosed subject to redaction of certain personal/privacy information under FOIA Exemptions 6/7C. The agency hopes to disclose the material by January 18, 2011. Accordingly, you will receive and have an opportunity to review the release during the requested 30-day extension period. We can then discuss what, if anything, remains of the case.”Indeed, in seeking court permission on January 13 to get more time to answer Judicial Watch’s lawsuit, the agency likewise told the court (The Honorable Emmet G. Sullivan) that “the report memorandum…has been promised and will be disclosed subject to redaction of certain personal privacy information.” The agency told Judicial Watch that it hoped to “disclose the material in the next week and believed the anticipated disclosure will moot the lawsuit.” Based upon this representation, Judicial Watch did not oppose the request for more time. The Court, also relying on this representation that the report was set to be released in a week, granted the Obama administration’s request for more time.However, following multiple attempts by Judicial Watch’s litigation team to obtain an update on the release of the report, Judicial Watch received the following email from the same Homeland Security AUSA on January 28: “The agency has advised of a delay in the release of the requested report…ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] clarifies that the current version of the report is still in draft form and that, while the final report will be released, Exemption 5 (deliberative process) will likely be asserted as to the draft report.” A subsequent email from DHS noted that ICE “cannot provide a specific release date at this time” for the final report.On February 11, 2011, Judicial Watch received a letter from ICE FOIA officer Catrina M. Pavlik-Keenan confirming the fact that the report will not be released as promised: “After review of the draft document, I have determined that this draft document will be withheld in its entirety pursuant to Exemption 5 of the FOIA.”Montano, a Bolivian national who entered the country illegally as a child, killed Sister Denise Mosier and critically injured two other nuns while driving drunk on August 1, 2010, in Prince William County, Virginia. He has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and drunken driving. Montano had been arrested on two prior drunk driving charges. He was placed in the custody of federal immigration officials in 2008 and was scheduled for deportation, but was released on his own recognizance pending a deportation hearing that never took place.Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano ordered an investigation on August 2, 2010, to determine why Montano’s removal process took so long. However, Homeland Security initially refused to release its report documenting the results prompting Judicial Watch to file its FOIA lawsuit on December 2, 2010.Here we have yet another broken promise on transparency by the super-secretive Obama administration. One can draw a conclusion, an almost inescapable one, that the DHS report on the illegal alien nun-killer contained damaging revelations, so now Obama appointees are scrubbing the report. As the report supposedly went to Secretary Napolitano, this scandal seems to go to the top. I think we have a cover-up in the making. Judicial Watch, for its part, will continue to fight in court for the immediate release of the report,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.